COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University men's basketball team was back at the Capital Center on Thursday night for a single-game home stint against the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum University. Points were in no way at a premium Purple and White pushed past MU by a score of 89-62.
Capital climbs ever closer to the .500 mark, now sitting just one game below at 3-4. On the conference side of things, the Comets evened out their record, now 1-1 in OAC play.
Muskingum falls to 0-7 on the season and 0-2 in the OAC.
1ST HALF
Capital wasted no time in getting the night started, going on an 11-2 run in the first five minutes of the game. The Comets continued to pull ahead in the next five minutes, expanding the lead to 14. At the halfway point of the first half, the Purple and White had pulled ahead 24-10. This "first quarter" push was led by
Carter Combs,
Joe Thompson, and
Griffin Doseck who combined for 18 points during that time period, with the team shooting 10-for-16 overall.
In the latter half of the first period
Dom Moegerle,
Tre Hammond, and
Nate Gerber combined for 15 points and played key roles in Capital's 27-17 run to finish off the first half. The trio were joined by
Ryan Roth and
Alex Eyink in some hot shooting from behind the arch, going 5-for-7 as a collective with everyone getting a piece of the pie.
A major point of Capital's success in the first half was their ability to capitalize on Muskie mistakes. A stout defensive effort caused Muskingum to cough up the ball 13 times in the first twenty minutes, resulting in 18 points on the other end for the Purple and White. On the occasion of Muskingum getting a shot off, the Comets were quick to contest, blocking three shots.
At the halftime break, the Comets controlled quite the lead, sitting 24 points ahead on the scoreboard, 51-27. In total, Capital hit 20 of their 31 shots in the first half, clocking a 64.5% shooting percentage and nearly registering as many made shots as Muskingum had attempts. The Purple and White also put in 6-of-14 three-pointers for a 42.9% shooting percentage from deep, and remained perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 5-for-5.
2ND HALF
Muskingum managed to crawl back a little bit in the early going of the second half, starting on a 9-3 run. It didn't take long for the Comets to bounce back, going on a quick run of their own to push the difference back into the twenties. The next eight minutes would remain closely contested, the teams trading points without much fluctuation on the scoreboard.
Carter Combs and
Joe Thompson kept the Comets in control as the pair was responsible for the team's eight points during that passage of time.
The next seven minutes were highlighted by the play of
Tre Hammond. The freshman forward would go on to score 11 points and lead Capital on an 18-7 run. He was aided by Combs who had five in that span as well. This run took the Capital lead to 33 as the game neared its conclusion.
From there, CU closed out the game comfortably and benefitted from a debut three-pointer by
Matt Sech down the stretch.
COMET NEWCOMERS
Matt Sech and
Jon-Michael Senes made their Capital debuts in the final four minutes of play. Sech finished with the first bucket of his career – a 3-pointer late in the game, while Senes will wait a while longer for his first stat.
THE NUMBERS
Carter Combs cruised to a 19-point performance, knocking down 43% of his shots, including three three-pointers. Elsewhere on the floor, the guard pulled down five rebounds, handed out five assists and collected one steal.
Griffin Doseck got settled in quickly, shooting 3-for-4 from the field for a total of seven points. He was also steady on the boards, collecting six rebounds. He added four assists, a block and three steals as well.
Joe Thompson kept up his efficiency by going 6-for-8 from the floor for 14 points. He added two boards and two assists.
Tre Hammond had himself a breakout game with a career-high 16 points off of 5-for-6 shooting. In his first real taste of extended minutes, the freshman forward went a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. He aldo pulled in two boards, and one assist, a block and a steal.
Dom Moegerle chipped in with 10 points, two rebounds and a steal as well.
Matt Sech made his debut for the Comets in the contest. The local product split a pair of three-point attempts and ended his debut with three points.
THOUGHTS FROM TRE HAMMOND ON HIS BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE
THE OPPONENT
Points - Kaelan Pulliam (13)
Assists - Six Players (1)
Rebounds - Zachary Chatmon (4)
Steals - Kaelan Pulliam (3)
UP NEXT
The Comets will head back on the road on Saturday, December 10, for a visit to the campus of John Carroll University. That game against the No. 9 ranked Blue Streaks will tip off from University Heights at 2 p.m.
